Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 338 - 338 0260 Earthquake and Mountains Shaking

Chapter 338: Chapter 0260: Earthquake and Mountains Shaking Chapter 338: Chapter 0260: Earthquake and Mountains Shaking Chapter 0260: The Earth Shakes and Mountains Tumble

Li Hongcai sneered, “So you’re afraid after all, aren’t you, Qi Tian?”

Qi Tian replied, “Don’t jump to conclusions, I’m choosing to stay for reasons other than fear. Rather, I don’t want to bear the stigma. If you have an issue with me, cut to the chase. If you continue to pester me for no good reason, remember that I’m not alone. Worst come to worst, we’ll risk everything in a fight.”

Li Hongcai decided to take the hint, “Fine, I don’t care if you’re Qi Tian or Zhang Liming. I’m strapped for cash, so give me five thousand spirit stones and I’ll pretend this never happened.”

“Five thousand? You’re really gutsy.” Qi Tian shook his head, “Let alone five thousand, I don’t even have five hundred.”

Li Hongcai scoffed, “You’ve killed plenty at the Tongmen West Pass. Scrape together what you can, I’m sure you can manage five thousand spirit stones. Qi Tian, wealth is insignificant. If you can’t let go of such things, you’ll have nothing when your identity gets exposed.”

“If you needed help, I might have lent you ten or so spirit stones. But if you insist on sullying my name and trying to extort five thousand spirit stones from me, then I guarantee that I have none. If I had that many spirit stones, do you think I would risk infiltrating Chi Di?” Qi Tian argued, pulling out some low-grade spirit stones and placing them in front of Li Hongcai, “This is all I have. Do you want them?”

Li Hongcai looked at about seven or eight spirit stones lying in Qi Tian’s hand, his face turning blue with rage, “Qi Tian, I was giving you a chance out of kindness. But you don’t seem to appreciate it. Don’t regret it later.”

Qi Tian flatly replied, “Fine.”

While he didn’t know how Li Hongcai found out about his true identity, Qi Tian knew that a man like Li Hongcai wouldn’t be satisfied easily. Today, he might ask for five thousand spirit stones, but next time, he could demand eight thousand or even ten thousand. His greed was limitless. Compromise wouldn’t satisfy him and would only make him more ambitious.

In the meantime, Qi Tian wasn’t worried about Li Hongcai making a scene. Before his greed was satisfied, Li Hongcai would try a few times. Only when these attempts failed and he realized he couldn’t gain anything from Qi Tian would he rip off the mask. At that point, Qi Tian would be in real danger. However, Qi Tian still had some safe time before that and would find a way to deal with Li Hongcai.

It was only a sixth-level Foundation Establishment cultivator. Qi Tian couldn’t kill him with his own strength, but he had the Heavenly Dao Engine, right? He didn’t even need to use it at full power – he was confident that he could eliminate Li Hongcai.

Just then, Cheng Cai who had left earlier, returned, asking with a grin, “What are you two talking about? You seemed so caught up.”

Li Hongcai replied, “Nothing much. I was just taken aback by Qi Tian’s youthfulness and talent, and couldn’t help but praise him a bit. By the way Cheng, is it time for our duel?”

Cheng Cai nodded, “It’s about to start. Are you both ready?”

Li Hongcai spoke, “I have a request. I want a life-and-death duel with Zhang Liming. As cultivators, we fight against the heavens, the earth, and people. In many cases, extreme stress can unlock potential. I believe Liming has a lot of potential left to be tapped. Perhaps, with a life-and-death duel, he might be able to uncover his potential and achieve breakthroughs on the spot.”

“This…” Chengzhang seemed hesitant, hearing Li Hongcai’s seemingly valid reason. He looked at Qi Tian. After getting a bribe of a thousand spirit stones from Li Hongcai, he had arranged for the clash between Qi Tian and Li Hongcai. He had assured Qi Tian that Li Hongcai would suppress his cultivation level and spar with Qi Tian. But now, it had become a life-and-death duel. Would Qi Tian agree? The agreement between Chengzhang and Qi Tian wasn’t strong—it was just a basic contract with little binding force. He couldn’t impose any demands on Qi Tian, and he didn’t dare either. After all, Qi Tian had the Ape King, Sun Xiaotian, backing him up. Even though Sun Xiaotian had never intervened on Qi Tian’s behalf, he still wanted to avoid any risk.

“Well, what do you say, young Zhang? Are you up for it?” Li Hongcai challenged Qi Tian.

Qi Tian knew he couldn’t dodge this bullet. Li Hongcai possibly didn’t want to kill him, but he certainly hoped to use this life-and-death duel to teach him a tough lesson. The ultimate goal was to force him to cough up the five thousand spirit stones. However, Li Hongcai might not realize that Qi Tian also wanted to kill him. As it happened, the situation was in line with Qi Tian’s intention.

So, Qi Tian nodded and said, “I don’t mind a life-and-death duel with Mr. Li. Who knows, I might achieve a breakthrough during the fight.”

Cheng Cai exhaled in relief, “Now that you both agree, I’ll arrange it.”

Li Hongcai looked at Qi Tian as if he were an idiot, saying, “You really are naïve. I hope you do break through under my fist, rather than receiving a harsh lesson. Just so you know, I’m not known for going easy.”